OdishaPlus Bureau
World Oceans day celebrated on 8th June 2019 with the theme ‘Gender and the Oceans’
World Oceans Day is celebrated every year on 8 June since 2009 to remind everyone the major role oceans play in our lives. The theme for this year is ‘Gender and the Ocean’, an opportunity to explore the gender dimension of humankind’s relationship with the ocean.
The effort was to build greater ocean and gender literacy, and to discover possible ways to promote gender equality in ocean-related activities such as marine scientific research, fisheries, labour at sea, migration by sea and human trafficking, as well as policy-making and management.
Activists are students teamed-up to promote the day. Indian Ocean is the biggest dumping ground for plastic-wastes but what’s yet to figure out is where the waste accumulates afterwards, claimed University of Australia. In September of 2018, The Ocean Cleanup announced its plans to launch the world’s first ocean cleanup system, ‘System 001’. A curved, 2000-foot-long plastic tube designed to trap marine plastics present within 10 feet of the ocean’s surface.
A team of young fishermen from Kasimedu have been cleaning up North Chennai’s beaches over the past few years. They are planning a State-wide awareness campaign on oceanic plastic pollution. “We’ve held 30 clean-ups so far, collecting 300 tonnes of garbage,” says K Vinoth, a member of the team, Ocean Awareness.
The Chandrabhaga beach on the Konark coast of Odisha will be the first in Asia to get the Blue Flag certification — the tag given to environment-friendly and clean beaches, equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists.
“The Chandrabhaga beach, which was earlier in the project, had failed to clear the criteria on safety ground due to high wave following expert committee report. Later, they selected the stretch between Digabareni Square to Mayfair Hotel in Puri for the project,” said Puri Collector Balwant Singh.
The purpose of such events is to make the world a better place to live in. Every ocean under the sun can receive the blue flag if the locals, government and tourists act responsibly. Gender-inequality on the other hand is an issue that has witnessed countless discussions, yet is prevalent. Hence, it’s commendable of the planners to be this thoughtful towards the burning environmental and social issues.
Story by: Swayam Sampaurna Nanda